XRP Breaks Out in Global Finance: Ripple Acquires Hidden Road, Paving the Way for Trillion-Dollar Cross-Asset Payments
Ripple has made one of the most notable acquisitions in the history of the crypto industry with the $1.25 billion acquisition of prime brokerage Hidden Road. The strategic move is expected to propel XRP to the center of the global financial ecosystem, especially in the areas of cross-asset payments and integration between blockchain and traditional capital.
In a passionate statement on social media X, Ripple’s Chief Technology Officer David Schwartz called it “a defining moment” for XRP and the XRP Ledger (XRPL) ecosystem. He noted that Hidden Road – which processes over 50 million transactions per day with a payment volume of up to $10 billion – is currently facing the limitations of traditional systems that require up to 24 hours to complete transactions.
“Imagine if even a fraction of that volume moved to the XRP Ledger — it’s near-instant, low-cost, scalable, and transparent. That’s the vision that Ripple is delivering,” Schwartz said.
Ripple strengthens its grip on the global brokerage scene
The deal not only marks a major shift for Ripple, but also reshapes the role of XRP in traditional finance. Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said Ripple has been a long-time Hidden Road customer and understands the company’s ability to facilitate more than $3 trillion in transactions per year, serving more than 300 leading institutions including hedge funds, market makers, and over-the-counter exchanges.
“The real value is not just the $1.25 billion. It’s connecting massive flows of capital from the traditional financial world to modern blockchain technology,” Garlinghouse said. “Hidden Road is a trusted intermediary, and when combined with Ripple, they will become the world’s largest non-bank prime broker.”
XRP and RLUSD: A Strategic Pair for Multi-Asset Trading
Hidden Road’s integration of the XRP Ledger into its trading operations goes beyond speeding up payments. The company will also deploy RLUSD – a Ripple-backed stablecoin – as collateral in multi-asset transactions, bridging traditional and digital markets.
“This is not just a step forward for Ripple or Hidden Road – it is a leap forward for the entire decentralized finance ecosystem,” Garlinghouse concluded.
With this bold move, Ripple is reshaping the future of global finance, making XRP a more efficient bridge between traditional and digital assets, and ushering in a new era of faster, more transparent, and more inclusive cross-border payments than ever before.